JORHAT, Nov 17 - The Public Works Department (PWD) here, while carrying out reconstruction and widening of a road � Tarun Ram Phukan Road � in Jorhat town, had to cut down a number of trees from a plantation area that was in the middle of the western stretch of the road.
The fenced area, named Bokulbon Udyan, was dedicated to one of the eminent poets of Assam, Ananda Chandra Baruah, who was popularly known as �Bokulbonor Kobi� and was also a president of the Asam Sahitya Sabha.
The plantation area, with over 20 Bokul trees having a bust of Bokulbonor Kobi, was carried out by the Jorhat Development Authority during the birth centenary celebrations of Baruah in 2008.
However, the PWD has planned to restore the plantation area alongside the road parallel to the earlier position.
It may be mentioned here that Tarun Ram Phukan Road (under PWD) having a length of 1.58 km is a key road here that runs parallel to the busy AT Road and is connected to JB Road on the eastern end and with the AT Road on the western end.
PWD Assistant Executive Engineer (Roads, Jorhat) Ranjit Dutta told this newspaper that the plantation area needed to be removed to construct the road divider. He said that the said plantation area was not at the centre of the road.
Dutta said that already the major portion of construction of the road and the divider has been completed and now the last segment will be taken up. In this regard, the plantation area was required to be removed to construct the divider at the exact middle position of the road.
The PWD official said that after obtaining the necessary consent from the forest department, the trees were cut down a few days ago and after completion of the project, expected within next two months, the department will be planting Bokul and other similar species of trees on the roadside near the said area to restore the plantation in the poet�s name.
Dutta said that the local residents have agreed to support the authorities in this regard and the State Assembly Speaker and Jorhat MLA Hitendra Nath Goswami was also thinking of getting a full-size statue of Baruah installed at the site.
Rintu Goswami, an advocate and a RTI activist, who is the treasurer of the committee, said the people of the area with their own contributions, with some assistance from businessman Anand Agarwalla, were undertaking the plantation drive and taking care of the saplings to make the initiative a success. Stating that the local residents will support the PWD authorities in restoring the plantation area dedicated to Baruah, Goswami said several hundreds of saplings were planted on the roadsides. Secretary of the committee Mridul Bhuyan, a retired PWD engineer and a cultural activist, said the local people will be keeping the memory of the famous poet alive by planting Bokul and other trees at the roadside.
Hitendra Nath Goswami on October 29, 2018 had laid the foundation of the road widening project.
